This year at the CES 2012, the HP Envy 14 Spectre edged out 3 other outstanding ultrabooks – the Samsung Series 9, the Acer Aspire S5 and the Dell XPS 13, to win the Best of CES 2012 award in the Personal Computers category. In the past we have seen quite a few of the "Best of CES" award winners achieving successes of iconic proportions – like the Motoroal Rokr E8 in 2008, Sony Vaio P series in 2009 and the Intel Centrino Duo Mobile Technology in 2006. Does the Envy 14 Spectre, the ambitious Gorilla Glass covered ultrabook from HP, have what it takes to become the next big thing? I got a chance to get a close look at the HP Envy 14 Spectre at the CES 2012 and I must say that I was really impressed.
Great Design and Flashy Style
The first thing to catch the eye about the HP Envy 14 Spectre is the abundant use of Gorilla Glass mainly via its all-glass lid and palm rest. According to HP executives, he Envy Spectre was designed keeping in mind the customers who do not want to compromise looks for performance and it is clearly evident from the ample flash and gloss. Although there is the concern about shattering the glass, HP is confident that the gorilla glass will withstand moderate bumps and falls and will be much more resistant to scratches. Another noticeable thing from the design perspective is the accommodation of the 14-inch diagonal display in the 13-inch chassis by reducing the border around the display to a bare minimum.
Excellent High Definition Display
In general, 13-inch ultrabooks lack high definition display, but since the engineers at HP have come up with an innovative design, the14-inch diagonal display on the Envy 14 Spectre is capable of showing 1600×900 pixels in HD+. The HP Radiance LDE display uses a technology that is different from the conventional true IPS technology but is extremely bright and viewable from large angles. The Radiance backlit keyboard has the inbuilt proximity sensor which enables it to gradually light up each row by sensing approach.
Ample Processing and Expansion Abilities
The Spectre is basically an Ultrabook and hence its processing ability is not as powerful as other models of the Envy series, which are built for high-end graphics capabilities. It comes with the option of Intel Core i5 or i7 ULV processors, 4GB or 8GB of DDR3 RAM and 128GB or 256GB of mSATA Solid State Drive. It's quite impressive for an ultrabook's perspective but the catch is, you have to pay a hefty $1,399 for the entry-level configuration. Another noticeable addition is the ability to wirelessly stream content and audio to up to 4 devices simultaneously. Other expansion options include Ethernet, Bluetooth, WiDi, NFC, USB 3.0, HDMI and Mini DisplayPort.
Apart from the above notable features, the HP Envy 14 Spectre weighs less than 4 pounds, has an excellent battery life of up to 9 hours and comes with pre-installed full versions of Adobe Photoshop and Premier Elements, similar to some of the latest laptops from HP.
From the first look it seems that the HP Envy 14 Spectre is definitely worth the price and will delight and amaze both consumers and executives and may easily find its place in boardrooms across the United States and across the world in no time.
We will have more to say about the HP Envy 14 Spectre once we get hold of it after the release date of 8th February 2012. Till then, let us know what you think about the new Ultabook from HP by commenting below.
Recent Comments